The Social Effects of the Pandemic

The pandemic caused the whole world to come to a standstill. Big and small businesses took almost catastrophic hits to their bottom lines. A record-breaking number of companies decided to close shop, and those left have been finding ways to navigate their industries in the new normal.

Digital transformation and further technological integration have been the saving grace of businesses that have managed to thrive and not only survive in these financially challenging times. Working our way down the chain, the company workforce has been significantly affected by the series of events caused by the corona virus outbreak. There were mass layoffs in multiple sectors of the industry.

Even for those who transitioned to remote working setups, there were still a lot of kinks left to iron out. Adapting to these changes professionally while also managing our personal situations and stresses at home proved quite difficult.

Different pockets of the population reacted and were affected differently by the pandemic. We've even seen what some economists call a boom in business after the pandemic in some industries. While some, like the tourism industry, continue to struggle to regain their footing.

Taking a closer look at things on an individual level, we see that a complex combination of socioeconomic elements make up the deciding factors whether you'll manage to sink or swim. The pandemic, which initially affected the population in relatively the same way all over the globe, was later revealed to be anything but equal.

Our careers

Careers aren't decided and developed overnight. Your professional situation is greatly affected by the educational opportunities available to you, your trade-worthy skill sets, and your financial situation. Health care professionals who have been working at the front lines since the beginning have found it incredibly difficult to manage the current hospital situation. However, the socioeconomic factors that affect them run the gambit from nurses and highly paid specialist surgeons and doctors.

A similar situation is also present in the manufacturing, food, delivery, and social care industry. Grocery workers have been thrust into the spotlight as they provide essential goods and services to the masses. Workers in this field increase the risks to their health but are not in the best position to handle the costs to their health and families should they get sick. However, in other industries such as Information Technology, professionals seamlessly transitioned into their remote roles and even saw increased productivity.

Our Children

During the government-mandated lockdowns, schools also had to shut their doors. This brought up a whole slew of new factors to take into consideration concerning child care. Low-income families relied on those available hours for work and on school-provided meals for their children during the day.

This significantly affected single-parent families as being the sole provider meant that there might not be any other adults available to take care of their children if they were at work. If their jobs allowed them to work from home, juggling the homeschooling and remote working scenario still proved challenging. Those in the higher income bracket had more room to breathe and adapt regarding facing the pandemic. They could afford to stay home or take on shorter workdays to cater to their family's needs.

Parents who were both in highly lucrative fields could also decide which one of them was to focus more on child care for the time being. However, there are some trickier situations also in the mix. Take, for example, a young adult living with their parents who currently work at the hospital. Though employed, staying at home exposed them to more risks associated with those in health care and took a toll on their mental health.

Our finances

The most obvious to take into consideration would be the effect of the pandemic on our finances. Those in industries such as tourism, hospitality, construction, and transportation saw an inordinately high number of people losing their jobs. Even as these businesses shifted their business models, it was an uphill battle to get back to stability. The employees in these industries found themselves in the middle of a global pandemic with no reliable source of income.

While consumer goods, fitness equipment, cleaning services, and online gaming saw a significant increase in demand. Some employees managed to come out of the pandemic in better financial situations than where they started.

Those employed in industries that were lucky enough to experience the boom partnered with government aid packages even saw a surplus in their finances. This has led to them paying off their home loans, student loans, and other debts with enough to spare to put into their savings.

While the effects of the pandemic are currently still developing in the new normal, it looks as if these trends still hold. Making the right moves doesn't only pertain to managing after the pandemic, but our past choices have also dictated its effects.